


Gone Bat Crazy

by ericsonclan



Series: Fantasy Hijinks AU [4]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bats, Elves, Gen, Goblins, Half-orc, Halflings, Quests, Wargs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25900783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: The halflings and Brody along with their new friends Marlon, Mitch and Rosie, take on the quest to eradicate as many bats as possible. Inside the cave though, they find another strange creature.
Series: Fantasy Hijinks AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797862
Kudos: 3





	Gone Bat Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

The group was curious on what to expect next as they followed Mitch into the cave. Marlon took up the rear, carrying a massive torch that cast enough light for all of them to see where they were going. Rosie had been ordered to stand guard at the entrance to the cave. If any bats tried to fly out, she could catch them herself and increase their profits. They walked one after the other as they made their way through the narrow tunnels of the cave. Hopefully the tunnel would eventually widen. None of them wanted to be fighting in such close quarters with the bats once they found them.

Next in line after Mitch, Louis tried to strike up a conversation with the human. “So, Mitch-”

“Shhh!” Mitch hissed, placing a finger to his lips. “No unnecessary noises. The bats are bad enough. We don’t want that thing finding us too,”

“Thing?”

“You’ll see soon enough. There’s no way we’ll avoid him for long. Just trying to buy us a few more minutes of peace,”

The tunnel opened up soon after that, expanding into a massive cavern with hundreds of stalactites covering the ceiling. A small pond lay to the right of them while stalactites were littered all around the space. It would not be easy to maneuver through. As they spread out along the sides of the room, Brody accidently backstepped into Marlon with a small gasp. He reflexively raised the torch out of her way, causing her to gasp again, but for quite a different reason. What they thought were stalactites weren’t stalactites at all. They were bats.

“Holy shit,” Louis whispered, gazing at the bats in awe. “No wonder they have a bat problem,”

“No kidding,” Violet murmured. “How are we supposed to get to them anyway? It’s not like our daggers can do any damage from down here,”

Mitch scoffed. “Bunch of newbs. To be a true mercenary, you have to be prepared for any situation,” With that he drew out a bow, aiming overhead at one of the nearest bats. He was about to shoot when an unholy scream erupted from nearby the pool. A green blur tackled Mitch to the ground, pummeling him mercilessly as the pair struggled on the cave floor.

“Willy warned you!” The creature hissed. “Willy said that if you came back you’d be sorry and here you are again! Now you will pay for harming Willy’s bat friends!”

“What the hell is that?!” Brody exclaimed, stepping back in fear.

“Looks like a goblin to me,” Marlon responded. “Sometimes they camp out in caves and form nests underground. They usually move in packs though. It’s weird for one to be on its own like this. They rely on their larger numbers to get the advantage over their foes so I’d guess this one doesn’t stand much of a chance on his own,”

“I don’t know…” Violet shrugged. “He seems to be holding his own just fine to me,”

The goblin was preceding to choke Mitch with his own weapon, looping it over his head and dragging him backwards with all his strength. Mitch cursed angrily, grabbing a rock and trying to toss it backwards at his foe. His trajectory was off though, hitting one of the ceiling bats instead. The bat fell down from its perch with an angry shriek, waking its brethren in the process. In a matter of seconds, the entire cave was swarmed with flying bats.

The halflings tried to defend themselves with their daggers, swiping back and forth blindly while shielding their eyes. Brody dropped to the floor with a scream, curling into a fetal position as the bats flew over her. Marlon tried his best to ward off the bats with his torch but was unable to get enough visibility to actually attack them. There were bats aplenty for the taking, but none of them could land a blow on any. The bats didn’t even seem to need their goblin protector.

Said protector was in the midst of trying to wrestle Mitch’s hunting knife out of his hands. His passion made him quite the opponent, with his long, gangly arms gripping the hilt of the weapon mercilessly. He and Mitch stumbled back and forth across the room, struggling to gain the upper hand. It was only after a particularly skilled sideswipe that Mitch was able to throw off the goblin’s sense of balance, momentarily gaining an advantage. He capitalized on the moment, picking the goblin up and tossing him back toward the lake where it landed with a loud splash. He then got to work hunting the bats, earning plenty more scratches as he laughed maniacally. “Yeah, do you like that, you fuckers? You may scratch me, but I’ll be the one taking your pelts!”

Meanwhile, the rest of the adventurers were having no luck.

“Fall back!” Marlon called, searching desperately for the others. “We need to fall back and make a new plan!” As he wandered forward, he failed to notice Brody hunched on the ground before him. He tripped over her, twisting his body to break his fall and landing squarely on his rump. He heard a crunch underneath him, but didn’t bother to look. If he’d cracked his ass, he’d need to get out of the cave before it could be fixed. He came across the halflings huddled in a circle, jumping as high as they could and stabbing wildly at the bats that circled them. They were having absolutely no success in their endeavors.

“C’mon, you guys! We gotta go!” he cried, picking Violet up and throwing her toward where he remembered the exit to be. She flew through the air with an indignant cry, but landed well enough, standing ready to help Omar up after he was also tossed. Louis was the last one to throw. Unfortunately, right as Marlon was about to chuck him, a particularly gutsy bat flew into his eyes. His aim was thrown off, and Louis ended up crashing into the wall beside the cave door, tumbling down with a small cry.

“Louis!” Marlon cried. “I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

“O-ok here!” Louis called, being helped to his feet by the other two halflings. “Guess what? I even caught two bats! They got smushed between my back and the wall!”

“That’s… good, I guess. Go ahead to the exit! I’ll grab Brody and get out!”

The halflings followed his instructions, booking it out of the cave.

Marlon fell to the ground under the barrage of attacks from the incensed bats. He crawled along the floor, finding Brody still wisely curled into a ball. Wordlessly, he picked her up and began to exit the cave. He looked back to see Mitch still fighting the bats with a wild passion. “Mitch, c’mon! Get out while you still have the chance!”

It was like he couldn’t even hear Marlon. He just kept swinging and slashing, yelling obscenities as bat fangs sunk in and bat droppings hailed from the sky.

He couldn’t be saved. Marlon ran out with Brody in his arms, relieved when he saw the halflings waiting safely outside. Rosie trotted up and licked his hand happily. He could see two drool covered bats by the entrance to the cave. She had done exactly what she was supposed to. What a good girl. Marlon patted her head happily before lowering Brody to the ground.

“It’s OK to come out now, Brody. We’re out of the cave,”

Brody uncurled slowly, opening one eye to look around in fear. When she saw the coast was clear, she collapsed outward on the ground, utterly spent. “Oh, thank God! I thought we were going to die in there!”

“Brody!” the halflings exclaimed, circling her for hugs.

Brody patted their heads happily. “Sorry I wasn’t much help in there. I promise I’ll try not to freak out next time,”

“Don’t sweat it,” Violet responded, waving a hand dismissively. “The only one who caught anything was Louis, and that was totally by accident,”

“It still counts!” Louis declared, crossing his arms in indignation. Then his expression changed to one of shock. “Whoah, Marlon! What did you sit in?”

“What?” Marlon asked, looking back at his bum. To his horror, he found that he had also caught a bat, crushing it almost beyond recognition when he fell to the cave floor after stumbling over Brody. Slowly, he peeled the carcass off of his cheeks, looking at the misshapen blob in disgust and pity. “Well, I guess that brings our total to five,”

“Make that eight!” a voice declared. They all turned to see Mitch emerging from the cave, three bat pelts slung over one shoulder. He was covered in blood and bat shit, but his face glowed with excitement. “Man, I really showed them, and that fucking gremlin! C’mon, let’s go get a drink!”

“We won’t get much for 16 copper coins,” Omar pointed out. “Better to buy food so we can have energy to try again tomorrow. Perhaps some cheese…”

\---

They weren’t able to afford cheese. Instead they settled on a bundle of potatoes, with each person getting around one and a half. It wasn’t much, but roasted over a fire and with some of Omar’s secret seasoning from home they were quite good. They sat around the fire munching their potatoes and making plans for the next day’s attack.

“What if we bundled ourselves in blankets?” Louis suggested. “That way when Marlon throws us against the walls it won’t hurt as much and we can do it as many times as we need!”

“I don’t know…” Brody answered. “I’d prefer a plan that didn’t involve getting ourselves thrown around against rock walls all day,”

“How about a bomb?” Mitch suggested. “Take ‘em all out in one go. If we time it right, we could probably grab a few handfuls of carcasses before the cave collapses,”

“That’s… worse. If those are our options, I vote blankets,”

They continued to argue animatedly on the issue until a strange voice broke through the darkness. “You have it all wrong. The question you should be asking isn’t how to kill bats, but why the bats are wanted in the first place,”

They looked up to see a wood elf emerging from the darkness. Her skin was darker than the rest of them, her hair draped in a braid along her shoulder.

“What are you talking about?” Marlon asked, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

“My apologies for the dramatic entrance. I’ve been looking for a group to share my findings with, and you all seem more receptive than most,” She took a seat before the fire, looking around at the others. “The reason the bats have a bounty on them isn’t because of overpopulation. The whole quest is a front for a drug ring. They stuff the carcasses with drugs and ship them off to their “disposal” site, a shipping hub for the entire district.

“That’s awful!” Brody exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“What does it have to do with us?” Mitch countered. “We’ll make our coin and then move on. It’s not like us stopping now will make a difference,”

“You’re right; it won’t. But busting the drug ring will, and there’s quite a hefty prize offered by the town elders for whoever takes down the drug runners,”

“Who exactly are you?” Violet asked, squinting at her from across the fire.

“My name is Prisha. If you all are looking for real adventure the way I think you are, I can promise you this quest will deliver. Are you interested?”

The group looked amongst themselves, some surer than others.

Prisha noticed their hesitance. “Think on it. That’s all I ask. If you’re interested, meet me by the old refinery at noon tomorrow,” With those words she rose up and disappeared into the forest once more.

A quest had emerged, much bigger than they’d expected anytime soon. The question remained: Were they willing to take it on?


End file.
